There are not much things to discuss overall, so let's discuss the possible future Talos Principle sequel. What to be the story? What new kind of tools must provide? What about the environment and design?

IMO there should be some kind of cooperative multiplayer and a competative game modes.

And portals, something like in the first Prey game. A movable box, which can refract reality...

I strongly agree with that, there MUST be some multiplayer levels.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Poorchop

I'll date you bro. You're gonna have to put on a wig and stuff some balloons under your shirt, and you're gonna have to pay for dinner as well. Also no touching. Don't even make eye contact. I'll pick you up around 7.

Co-op puzzles could be cool but speaking from prior experience, it can be hard to find a good partner. I don't know anyone who plays video games so I'd have to rely on getting paired with randoms, which usually isn't fun. With that in mind, I'd rather they focus on single player.

I hope that the story does NOT pick up where it ended because it was already wrapped up nicely. Gehenna was a nice addition that didn't exactly try to continue the story, which I appreciated. Maybe they could make the next one a prequel or just explore something radically different. I really don't see how they could add on the story though without ruining the first game. The total lack of civilization in the first game was a huge factor in contributing to the mood and atmosphere so a prequel featuring surviving humans could be a bad idea.

I can agree with the portal idea or just adding other mechanics in general. The first game already had a lot of good mechanics so that it never got boring. They just need to make some additions without making it too convoluted. A puzzle with too many elements can get tedious, which quickly leads to frustration and boredom.

From what I recall, TTP mentions that there were multiple facilities spread throughout the world. To me, a sequel should run parallel to the first game and take place in one of the other facilities. Then the storyline could work on filling in the holes left by the first game. What happened to humanity in the final days? What did they want the AI to do in the real world once they passed the test? Is there anybody left? Are the AI's meant to join up in the world to create a new paradise? Etc etc etc. They would definitely need to explore a new branch of philosophy since the whole "what defines humanity" was well-explored in the first game.

But I'm also against co-op, unless it is a more streamlined experience that is wholly separate from the campaign. A lot of the puzzles required many minutes of trial and error and careful consideration, which might grow boring with another human partner. I'd want a dedicated experience built specifically for co-op.

A story that runs parallel to the first game sounds like it would be the best option. I'm not really sure how they could approach another philosophical issue though. The question of what defines humanity is core to the game. They could talk about morality and whatnot but it wouldn't have the same meaning or impact as discussing humanity.

The first game changed my perspective regarding the overall issue that it discussed. I doubt that the second game could pull something off like that again. In any case, I would just be happy with more puzzles at the expense of a compelling story. I also agree that a lot of puzzles required a lot of time and in my case, sometimes revisiting them days later after sleeping on the solution. However, co-op mode in Portal 2 worked pretty well apart from the fact that it sucks when you have to play with randoms.

I dono for the mass player, but personaly I felt the puzzles too easy in the most cases. The only ones which were too hard for me were "Unreachable garden" in star world C (excluding the "wall-run solution"), "Through a window", "Small space, big solution" and "Ray Mania" in Road to Gehenna. Then I try out some fan-made maps - it blast me with it's difficulty and that's the way I like it.

I didn't find the puzzles too easy. A bunch of them required a good amount of time. The extras and hidden items were a lot harder to get as well. I like that design because it allows you to proceed with the main story without too much trouble but if you really want a challenge, you can go for 100%.

I don't remember if it was in the main game or in Gehenna but there was one area with a bunch of very tiny puzzles right next to each other. Almost all of those were extremely hard. A friend of mine played them around the same time as me and he really struggled with them as well. To me, all of the puzzles were just the right amount of difficulty. Any harder and then it becomes more like homework where the game isn't fun anymore. The Witness suffered from this and I stopped playing it at the very end just because it was so tedious.

I forgot to mention that I would like to see sigil puzzles disappear. There really wasn't any point to them. Maybe I'm just stupid but I don't think there's a logical solution to them. It's just a matter of guessing correctly. I don't ever like using walkthroughs, especially for puzzle games, but I started using them for the sigil puzzles at some point just because I was sick of them and they added nothing of value.

The puzzle solving part - It differs from player to player, perhaps the personal characteristics of everyone of us are different... I still remember the puzzle "High ground" (Egypt world 2, right-back from the starting point, including a lot of jammers) - this one took me a time to solve the first time. At the end I surrendered and went for the bed... In the middle of the night I woke up with a solution in my head... Never felt so obsessed with a game before...

I really don't see how they could add on the story though without ruining the first game.

It's 7000 years into the future. Humans are long gone, robots rule the world. Their culture and mythologies reflect where they came from. They worship at the temple of IAN. Research into their biological ancestors has been going on for a long time. Now a breakthrough, they managed to clone a new human baby from old fossilized DNA. Goldblum approves but wonder if they should. Baby is born. You play baby.

That's not a serious suggestion but the point is there are many ways to expand on the story without trampling over the original. I don't think a parallel simulation is a good idea, Talos1 relied on a novel setup for the mystery to work - Talos2 should do the same and not just run on repeat while providing some extra lore.

That sounds like it could be interesting. I guess there actually are a lot more themes and ideas that could be explored but I still feel like it's gonna be tough to top the first game. The mystery of what happened to the humans felt like it was kind of secondary to the philosophy. However, that desire to discover some answers remained and kept the story captivating through all the text about life and sentience. I guess what I'm saying is that it will be tough to make another game about intertwining some big back story with some really captivating philosophy.

As long as the game play is good though, I'll be happy. A good story is almost always just a bonus when it games to games, but that's what helped make the first game so perfect.